How does it feel? To come so near to victory that you can almost smell it. To be so close, you have even started a premature celebration. And then to have it snatched away. Like a complete unknown, is the Bob Dylan lyric that Mashrafe Mortaza's men will have to take away from this.
Victory and triumph have been fleeting guests for Bangladeshi cricket. And perhaps that was why, with victory just a hair’s breadth away, first Mushfiqur Rahim and then Mahmudullah got greedy and desperate in Bengaluru on Wednesday. The unnerving tension finally got to them after they had both shown calm heads – they wanted to settle it quickly and celebrate. Tragically, in two moments of madness, victory turned into an imposter and Bangladesh fell short by the matter of one measly run.
When the dust settles, both Indian and Bangladeshi cricket fans will point to those last three balls. Bangladesh needed two runs off three balls for a victory that would have kept them alive in the tournament. They got a full toss and a short ball and hit both of them straight to the fielder. Off the last ball, they missed, ran – and lost.
Where it was won
But it is important to look back to a few key moments that allowed India to enter the last over with still a chance of victory. In the first ball of the last over, Hardik Pandya gave Mahmudullah a wide delivery outside off stump which the batsman gleefully stroked away. At deep cover, Rohit Sharma swooped in spectacularly, grabbed the ball and threw it back. Only one run was conceded.
Rewind back to the fourth delivery of the 18th over from Jasprit Bumrah. This time, Mushfiqur Rahim perfectly opened the face of his bat and sent an off-stump yorker towards the gully boundary. It was a shot which has been seen often in this tournament. Most times, it goes for a boundary. If the batting team is unlucky, they can still hope to get at least two. But yet again, Rohit Sharma covered massive ground, picked up and threw it back. Yet again, only one run was conceded.
India dropped three important catches at the start of Bangladesh’s innings. For a while, everything seemed to be going Bangladesh’s way. But when it came down to the last three overs, not one Indian fielder succumbed to the pressure. Sharma’s fielding will perhaps go unnoticed but it is important to remember this – had he been even a touch slower, Bangladesh would have probably won this match.
Two moments of magic
But the final master-stroke came from Mahendra Singh Dhoni. There is something unnerving about the way he can just predict what is about to happen. After Mushfiqur Rahim holed out to Shikhar Dhawan at deep mid-wicket, Dhoni had a long conversation with his team-mates. He then took Ravindra Jadeja, his best fielder from the cover region and positioned him at deep mid-wicket, replacing Dhawan who had just taken a catch in the previous delivery. And lo and behold – off the next delivery, Jadeja ran to his right, kept his balance in a pressure-cooker situation and pulled off a brilliant catch.
There was one final throw of the dice left. Yet again, Dhoni just knew what he had to do. With the last ball of the over left, he look off his left glove to make it easier for him for him to pick the ball up and throw it towards the stumps. And as if it was scripted, Bangladesh’s Shuvagata Hom missed the ball, Dhoni picked it up, ran towards the wicket and took the bails off, cool as a cucumber.
Small moments help teams win big matches. Tragically for Bangladesh, the tide turned just at the exact moment they felt they had conquered it.
Final Score: India (146/7 in 20 overs) beat Bangladesh (145/9 in 20 overs) by one run.